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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Counseling to Type Strategies – Sensing (Part 2)

In our last post, I shared some suggestions for working with students who have a Sensing preference. Here are a few more to help you during your counseling sessions:

 Discuss realistic and practical options.  When generating options for what you can do with a major in ___, focus on practical careers that have a linear, and possibly structured path to success, such as nursing or engineering.  This preference will also respond well to options that are linked to either the counselor’s personal experience, or experience of someone they know well and/or respect. 

  Limit brainstorming to a minimum. Rather than brainstorming all the careers you can do with a major in Journalism, this preference will respond better to a concrete list of careers that Journalism majors most often choose according to academic department data, Department of Labor Stats, the MBTI®Career Report, or some other trusted source of data. 

 Is this correct? Using this phrase is one way to build greater buy-in with Sensing preferences.  “Is this correct” and “do you agree” will help a Sensing preference refine the discussion so it is more accurate and reflective of how they would describe the situation. 

 Where’s the data? At the conclusion of the session, show a Sensing preference were  to find additional  data that will support your discussion, including web sites, books and people that can provide concrete fact back up. 
Can you provide a concrete example or description of an appointment they had with a Sensing preference student?  What did the session look like?  What are YOUR best suggestions for working with a student with a Sensing preference?
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How do you prepare for a toast using MBTI type?


We asked Catherine Rains, fellow colleague and MBTI® certification trainer, to answer the following question: "When asked to provide a toast at party or special event, how do you typically react, what’s your plan of action and how do you feel when it’s all over and done?"

"In spite of my preferences for ENFP, I am not at all spontaneous about giving a toast, or any kind of professional training for that matter. Although I truly love presenting, and look forward to doing this,  I never do so unless I am over the top prepared. For a toast, or any presentation,  I will create a script and practice it many times until no one will know that the toast had been scripted. It will sound totally off the cuff and spontaneous.  When it’s all  over, I usually feel energized and excited about having had the experience, and a little disappointed that I can’t do it all over again!"

What is your typical reaction? Write it in the comments below and don't forget to check out our celebration at www.mbtiparty.com to get your goodies!
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Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Counseling to Type Strategies – Sensing (Part 1)


Back to our series on tailoring our counseling strategies based upon the type of student we are supporting!  This week we tackle the Sensing preference.

Here are some suggestions for working with students who prefer Sensing: 

Details please!  These students are listening for, and will remember most, if not all, of the details you share during your session.  They are data and fact driven, so be sure to be prepared with things like anticipated job growth and career assessment data, and make sure your facts are accurate and relevant to the topic you are discussing. 

Provide concrete, real-life examples, rather than metaphors or stories, to illustrate the points you are reviewing with your student.

Speak in a linear manner.  This type of student wants the career process described in a sequential, linear way.  Start with step 1, then go to step 2, and move to Step 3, and so forth.  These students will get lost if you jump around to wherever the conversation leads or what inspires the counselor.  This is the student that the 4-year career plan was made for! 

Provide practical applications.  When explaining informational interviewing, for instance, clearly illustrate how this job search technique is a practical and linear process for narrowing a student’s major/career options.  

In my next post, I will give you four more suggestion before I move onto counseling strategies for students with a preference for Intuition. 
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Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Death, Taxes and General Education Requirements

Learning to Learn Series - Part 3
By Jim Larkin and Jack Powers

 Let's face it, even if you find a major and career path that perfectly meshes with your talents and temperament, it still doesn't save you from general education requirements. It’s a universal pain point, like death and taxes. No matter how brilliant you are within your chosen field, you must endure a litany of courses with no apparent connection to your future, outside of their ability to sink your GPA, grad school plans and scholarship. So how does one survive general ed? 

People tend to approach general ed in two ways, depending on personality preferences for either Sensing (S) or Intuition (N), as presented by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® instrument. Those with either preference frequently hit a wall in general ed courses, but often at different points and for different reasons. 

Students with an S preference tend to focus on the practical “here and now,” and for them that “wall” comes almost immediately. If you’re a business major, for example, you may see having to take cultural anthropology or English composition as a waste of time with no practical career application. Consequently, you’ll be disengaged from the start.  

Focusing on the big picture
You can counter this by flexing your natural analytic abilities to understand that this is an experience that you must wade through to achieve your goals. Looking at the big picture may not be your immediate impulse, but viewing the course as a single rung in a ladder that leads to being able to do what you really want will help motivate you to buckle down and study.

Finding the method in the madness
If an immediate connection between the course subject matter and what you hope to do for a living eludes you, find one. For example, while as a business executive or engineer you may never be asked to produce an essay on the nihilistic voyeurism of Hemingway, you’ll certainly need to cogently, convincingly and at times creatively express your thoughts.

Those in technical fields are increasingly required to make the case for their initiatives to non-technical audiences -- to succeed, you’ll need better communication skills than the average math teacher. And for those with more administrative goals in mind, remember that a crackerjack speechwriter may not be there to help you with your big presentation. In such cases, you’ll be thankful if you paid attention in English class.

Take your general ed early
Finally, take your general ed courses as early as possible -- preferably your freshman and sophomore years. You may actually find that what you thought was your ideal career isn't so ideal, and that another course of study appeals more to you. If you don’t discover that until your junior year, it may be too late to switch directions.

In summary, if you've got a preference for Sensing, your general education stumbling block will be the perceived lack of practicality. However, if you dig a little deeper you may find that even if the subject matter is irrelevant, often the skills are highly relevant to your future, which will help you become more motivated and engaged to succeed.

Next time we’ll discuss how Intuitives (N) -- whose natural curiosity and big picture focus may get them initially stoked about a general ed course -- can avoid losing steam halfway through when the novelty of the new subject wears off and the coursework kicks in. 
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